Help restore and refresh Christ the King chapel at Good Samaritan Hospital, a refuge for patients and their families for the past 63 years.

After 63 years, Christ the King chapel at Good Samaritan Hospital is awaiting its first face-lift.

The chapel opened in 1950 at what was then the hospital’s main entrance on East 31st Street, 26 years after the hospital was built by the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration.

Today, the chapel is a place of quiet pause, reflection and renewal for the thousands of patients and their families who receive care at Good Samaritan Hospital each year.

With the funds raised, Good Samaritan plans to replace the stained-glass windows; replace the flooring; redo the heating, ventilating and air-conditioning system, and update the seating.

The chapel represents Good Samaritan's faith-based ministry that began 89 years ago. It is a tranquil, sacred space where a different kind of healing occurs.

The chapel has held numerous weddings, funerals, celebrations of thanks and praise as well as traditional worship services. Mass is said at noon every Wednesday and Friday by priests in the Kearney area.

It is where visitors, staff and patients gather to seek peace and understanding.

Sister Rita Beason, director of Pastoral Care, says “People come to the hospital as patients. They are frightened and vulnerable. We want them to be able to come to the chapel and feel a warmth welcoming them, like God is present to them in a way that they would not sense otherwise."

Sister Rita said the chapel's name reflects the fact that it is open and welcoming to people of all denominations. It was named Christ the King Chapel because, regardless of the religious faith of patients, “The Lord was the one thing over all. The Lord is here over all the hospital,” she said.